The Goal of Creation is Rest

 

Genesis 1:1 – 2:3

The Beginning of Creation

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” This is the theme, which indicates that God was going to start His work of creation.

Verse 2, “the earth was formless and void, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” It talked about the original state of being before the creation. There were three problems in the original state:

1.      “Formless and Void “means without form and things. In Hebrew, it denotes a waste land that is not suitable for human dwelling.

2.      Darkness over the surface of the deep

3.      Chaotic primordial water

Subsequently verses 3-31 give a detailed account of how God had orderly created form and things out of a formless and void state. Hence, God did not merely create something out of nothing (“creatio exnihilo”), but also created order out of chaos.

Today we are born again in Christ, the Spirit has transformed our lives that were once messy and meaningless (formless and void) into fruitful, orderly and meaningful lives in accordance with God’s plan. The Devil seeks to destroy human lives, turning them formless and void, but God saves us by giving us new lives in Christ that we can live abundantly.

Interpretation

God is the Creator and the great “I Am”. He has existed before all the creation. Philosophically, he is a Necessary Being not a contingent being. Everything else are contingent beings. Necessary Being must exist and not be created. Contingent beings may or may not exist  because they are created. So, we cannot ask, who created God?

Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

So, God is the Creator and Designer of all things in the universe. He is sovereign over his creation and He has His purpose for His creation. All creation must submit to Him and observe His ordinances and statutes and fulfill His will.

Verse 2: “The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

It means the Spirit was striking, overcoming and containing the chaotic waters (evil forces), and hence ushering in God’s magnificent work of creation.

The genre of Genesis Chapter One is a poetic song, and the second chapter is a narrative prose. In Chapter one, God used six days to create all things in the universe. The description of creation is poetic in nature, and its structure is rhythmic and lyrical:

God’s sacred command: “God said, ……” （vv. 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26, 29）

The result of the command: and there was the creation.

God handled the chaotic state: God said, “to separate…from…”

God showed His contentment, “And it was so.” (v 6, 9, 11, 15, 24, 30）

God named the creation, “God called…” （v 5, 8, 10） (Appeared in the first three days of the creation)

God’s comments towards His creation, “God saw that it was good” (v 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25).

Conclusion: “And there was evening, and there was morning…” (vv. 5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31）

The creation of God in the first three days was the forming of the structure or the form, which settled the problems of formlessness and darkness.

God created light in the first day. He spoke and light came into being.  By then God had not yet created the sun and the moon, but there was light. The author emphasizes the light that did not come either from the sun or the moon. The sun and the moon were Canaanites’ gods. This light came from the presence of God.

Light is in fact a form that God created. Then God separated the light from the darkness, and He called the light “day” while the darkness, “night”.

God solved the issue of darkness. He turned darkness into a soothing time that man sleeps. Revelation tells us that in the future New Heaven and New Earth, the glory of God would shine on the entire city of Jerusalem, and it will be mere day time without nights and darkness (Revelation 21:22-25; 22:5). Darkness then is destroyed completely.

God sovereignly created the vault, firmament, or sky in the second day, and hence waters under and above the vault were separated.

This vault was a big hard canopy that protected all things under it from being flooded by big waters. If God were to open the window of the sky, waters would then pour down from the sky and it would become an overwhelming flood.

God said in the third day, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.”

God separated the sea and the dry ground. God solved the problem of the chaotic waters by setting boundaries to it. God made the dry ground fertile, and it grew with all kinds of plants and vegetables.  It foreshadowed the emergence of the living creatures on earth as their food is vegetables and fruits.

On the first three days, God used His Word in the creation. For He spoke, and it came into being. By this, God created the air, seas, earth, and named these creations as day and night, sky, earth and sea. So, the way of His creation approach was separation and naming them. In this way, God created order and meaning for them.

The air, sea and earth are all forms, and they solve the problem of formlessness. However, the issue of voidness still exists. Thus, God placed all things in the air, sea and on earth in the subsequent three days of creation which helped solve the issue of voidness.

And the pinnacle of creation was the creation of man after God’s image. And God appointed man to be His representative to manage all of His creation.

God created the greater light on the fourth day to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. God also created other stars. These heavenly bodies have their respective functions, and they shine in the vault, to differentiate day and night, and to serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years.

The author did not call them sun and moon, because these were Canaanites’ gods.

Then, God placed various living creatures in the sea and birds in the air, and commanded them to reproduce according to its kind on the fifth day. He also blessed them and commanded them to increase in number.

After that, God created all kinds of living animals and placed them on the earth according to their kinds on the sixth day. God also created man in His own image, and He blessed them to be fruitful and multiply, and to fill the entire earth. He also appointed man to rule over all the creation in the sea and in the air and on earth.

Genesis gives us a very unique description about man’s creation, and we can see it when it makes a comparison between the creation of man with the rest of the other creation.

Firstly, the first person is used when it records about the creation of man. “Let us ……” （v 26）But when it describes the creation of all things (v 3,6,14), the third person is used instead, “God said, let there be….”

Secondly, the author uses “according to its kind” when he describes the creation of animals and livestock (vv. 21, 24, 25); but when it comes to man’s creation, the author emphasizes that he was “created in our (God’s) image.” (vv. 26-27）

Thirdly, the creation of man and woman includes the description of their sex (v27), and this was not mentioned in the creation of other creatures because it was relatively not important.

Fourthly, only man was endowed with the authority and responsibility to rule over the creation in the air, sea and on earth. Hence, the creation of man is truly unique in comparison with the other creation, not merely because man was specially created, but more importantly, he is specially created in the image and likeness of God.

Fifthly, the author emphasizes that God’s creation is good in Genesis 1. This word appears seven times in chapter 1, and it indicates the goodness of God and His creation. It is also served as a contrast where God says “very good” on the sixth day when He created man.

Just think about the beauty, harmony and order of God’s creation and it is really amazing! It is indeed, very good!

Verses 1-3 of chapter 2 says, “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.”

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so, on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. 

	Form			Things/substance
1st day	Light		4th day	Greater light, lesser light, stars
2nd day	vault/sky /Firmament		5th day	Birds in the air, fishes in the sea
3rd day	Dry ground, vegetables		6th day	creatures on the earth, man
		7th day
		Sabbath

 The whole project of the creation of God stopped at day 7 (2:3), and not at day 6 (1:31). The Seventh Day is special and holy. In the seventh day, God was quiet throughout the day and night, and He did not work because He rested. God has His own pace in working, He worked six days and rested on the seventh day.

The pinnacle of God’s work of creation is in fact, rest. The author underlines that God has created all things in the universe, especially man, and His intention is for all the creation to rest in His presence and be blessed.

Jesus was born to deliver sinners, He also promised rest for those who are heavy burdened.

Since man is created in the image of God, man should imitate God by resting on the seventh day. God commanded the Israelites to observe the Sabbath, and it is one of the Ten Commandments. This commandment is also given to you and me (Exodus 20:8-11).

Conclusion

The Old Testament YHWH as the name of God, as He entered into a covenantal relationship with the Israelites. However, the word “Elohim” was used in Genesis 1 and it is a generic name of a universal God who creates all things. The author uses the name of Yahweh in the creation story of Genesis 2.

The Genesis author through the two creation stories of Chapter one and Chapter Two, emphasizes that the God who covenanted with the Israel is the Creator of all things in the universe. He superseded many other paganistic gods of the Canaanites, which included the sun god and the moon god.

God is the Creator. and He is the God who covenants with His people, and He is their guardian and their provider. God turns darkness into light and death into life, and He transforms chaos and emptiness into an orderly and meaningful life.

Thus, we must trust Him in all things in our daily lives. In God’s presence, we are fearless of sicknesses or death or Covid-19 viruses. Let’s cast all our worries and bitter burdens unto the Lord and come before Him and rest in His presence.

Moreover, God has created us, and He is the Master Designer. He knows what is best for us, and He also set forth plans and targets for our lives. Let’s offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to be used by God, in order to fulfill His plans for our lives.

When we seek God and pray to and ask of Him, He would surely reveal to us the path that we should take.

If we pursue only to fulfill our dreams, we could only have our own goals realized, fulfilling the “minimum I”, or we might be trapped in the state of formlessness and voidness. But if we obey the Word of God, and fulfil God’s plan for us, we will be able to maximize our full potential, and fulfil the “maximum I “.